Former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci has detailed his horrifying recovery after contracting West Nile virus in August. In an op-ed published Monday in The New York Times, Dr. Fauci said he feared he would never “return to normal” after becoming mentally and physically weak.
“I could not swing my legs over the side of the bed to sit up without help from my wife and three daughters. I could not stand up without assistance and certainly could not walk,” he wrote. “A very scary part of the ordeal was the effect on my cognition. I was disoriented, unable to remember certain words, asking questions of my family that I should have known the answers to. I was afraid that I would never recover and return to normal.”
The 83-year-old said that he likely caught it from a mosquito bite in his backyard in Washington, D.C. He was admitted to the hospital on Aug. 16, feeling “delirious and incoherent with a temperature of 103 degrees.” He spent almost a week being treated for sepsis before blood testing revealed that he had the virus. “There is no treatment for West Nile virus disease, and I was left to deal with its toll on my body. It was terrifying,” he wrote.
So, we took a closer look at how prevalent the virus is and how to spot it.
States with West Nile virus
West Nile is named after the West Nile district of the African country Uganda, where it was first discovered in 1937. But it has since spread to many parts of the world, including the U.S., where it has become the most common mosquito-transmitted virus in the country.
As of Oct. 1, the Centers for Disease Control says that there have been 880 reported cases of West Nile virus across the U.S. This includes New York, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Illinois, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California.
Texas has the highest number of cases (65), followed by Nebraska (75), Louisiana (31), and Mississippi (42). On the other end of the spectrum, Washington, Oregon, Kentucky, and Alaska have no reported virus cases at this point.
Symptoms of West Nile virus
Most people who contract West Nile virus don’t have symptoms. According to the CDC, about 1 in 5 people will experience the following symptoms:
- Headache
- Body aches
- Joint pains
- Vomiting or diarrhea
- Rash
Still, about 1 out of 150 infected with the West Nile virus will develop a more severe illness. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the most common complications are encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and meningitis (inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord). Out of the existing reported cases, at least 142 are nervous system infections. Signs include:
- High fever
- Headache
- Neck stiffness
- Stupor or disorientation
- Vision loss
- Muscle weakness or uncontrollable movements, such as tremors or convulsions
- Numbness
- Paralysis
While the CDC says that these types of cases can happen at any age, adults over 60, like Dr. Fauci, are at greater risk for severe illness if they become infected. The same is true for people who have preexisting conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, or kidney disease.
What is the West Nile fatality rate?
West Nile can be deadly, but that’s not exactly common. The CDC estimates that about 1 out of 10 people who develop a severe illness like the ones mentioned above die. That means most people who become infected with the virus recover, which could take a few weeks or months.
Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially since there’s no specific treatment or vaccine for West Nile. The CDC says the best way to avoid contracting West Nile is to spray yourself with repellents such as DEET and picaridin or wear long-sleeved shirts and pants.
You can also prevent these pesky bugs from getting inside by using air conditioning rather than opening your windows, installing window and door screens, and getting rid of common breeding sites, like clogged gutters and pet water bowls.
